Litecoin Signs Sponsor Deal with UFC

Cryptocurrencies might have had a bumpy year in 2018. But cryptocurrencies like Litecoin certainly aren’t out for the count.

The cryptocurrency, often touted as the “silver to bitcoin’s gold”, is to become an official sponsor of UFC, in the latest collaboration between the world of mixed martial arts and the cryptocurrency sector.

The agreement was reached by the Litecoin Foundation, the body that administers the cryptocurrency and its technology. As part of the sponsorship agreement, the Litecoin logo appeared at UFC 232, for the hotly anticipated fight between light heavyweight titans Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.

The first cryptocurrency to sponsor a UFC event, the Litecoin Foundation said the opportunity to expose the cryptocurrency to a global audience of millions would help in its bid to strive for more widespread mainstream adoption.

“With brands and institutions continuing to push into cryptocurrency and blockchain, this is yet another signal of this technology moving closer towards the mainstream.”

The Foundation has suggested it would like to continue its partnership with UFC for upcoming events, with a view to a longer-term cooperation between the brands.

While the Litecoin sponsorship is the first example of a cryptocurrency officially sponsoring a UFC event, it is far from the first sponsorship deal signed with a cryptocurrency brand in the sport.

Last year, Canadian fighter Rory MacDonald agreed to a sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency dash for Bellator 192, while former MMA champion Michael Chandler previously agreed to terms with crypto trading platform CoinLion.

Litecoin went live back in 2011, a fork from the bitcoin blockchain at the time. Almost identical in many respects to the technology behind bitcoin, litecoin was set up to provide a faster alternative to bitcoin for peer-to-peer money transfer, with lower transaction costs.

In May 2017, Litecoin officially became one of the world’s top 5 cryptocurrencies. Despite challenging trading over the close of 2018, as a result of the wider bear market in bitcoin, litecoin remains one of the most heavily used cryptocurrencies for payments.

With this level of exposure from its high profile sponsorship of UFC, and the promise of more similar deals in the pipeline, it looks like 2019 could see the cryptocurrency reach an ever increasing global audience.